Childhood

Childhood

Social construction
1. Something created and defined by society- argued that what people mean by childhood, and the status of children in society, is not fixed but differs between different times, places and cultures
2. The modern Western idea of childhood
  1. Pilcher argues that the most important feature of childhood is ‘separateness’- childhood is seen as a distinct life stage, and children in western societies, occupy a separate status from adults e.g. laws regulating what children are allowed, required or forbidden to do
    1. Laws regulating what children are allowed, required or forbidden to do
    2. Differences in dress (younger children) and through products and services specially for children, such as toys, food, play areas and so on
    3. Through products and services specially for children e.g. toys, food, play areas
  2. ‘Golden age’ of happiness and innocence- vulnerable and in need of protection from the dangers of the adult world (family & education) and so they must be separated from it
3. Cross cultural differences in childhood
  1. Benedict- childhood is simpler, non-industrial societies are generally treated differently from their modern western counterparts in a number of ways
  2. Punch- they take responsibility at an early age
  3. Firth- ess value is placed on showing obedience to adult authority
  4. Malinowski- children’s sexual behaviour is often viewed differently
4. The globalisation of Western childhood
  1. Child Liberationists argue that modern Western childhood is oppressive
  2. Socially constructed view of childhood is becoming globalised – it’s spreading around the globe through international humanitarian and welfare agencies
  3. Concerns about child labour or street children in developing countries reflects a Western view of how childhood ought to be. However, this might be an important preparation for adulthood in these countries
  4. Evaluation- children are experiencing ‘toxic childhood’ (Palmer) suggests that rapid technological and cultural changes (e.g. junk food, testing in education) have damaged children’s physical, emotional and intellectual development
5. Historical differences in childhood
  1. Aries- in pre-industrial society, childhood didn't exist, they were seen as "mini adults" (same duties & responsibilities as adults)
    1. Evaluation- Pollack- analysed 16-20th Century diaries and claimed that childhood clearly existed
  2. Shorter- increased death rates encouraged indifference & neglect towards infants- economic assets rather than a symbol of love
  3. Industrial society- children worked in factories & mines (working class), child prostitution continued until the 20th Century
6. The modern cult of childhood
  1. Schools County specialised pool in the Education of the young- reflect the influence of the church which increasingly so children as fragile creatures of God in need of discipline and protection from worldly evils
  2. There is a growing distinction between children's and adult clothing
  3. 18th century handbooks on child-rearing were widely available - a sign of the growing child centeredness of family life (middle class)
  4. Evaluation- Pollock argues that it's more correct to say that (middle ages) society simply had a different notion of childhood to today
7. Reasons for the changes in the position of children
  1. Laws restricting child labour
  2. Introduction of compulsory schooling
  3. Declining family size
  4. Children's development became the subject of medical knowledge
Future of childhood
1. Disappearing
  1. Postman argues that childhood is ‘disappearing at a dazzling speed’
    1. Giving children the same rights as adults
    2. The disappearance of children’s traditional unsupervised games
    3. The growing similarity of adult and children’s clothing
    4. Cases of children committing ‘adult’ crimes e.g. murder
2. Not disappearing
  1. Opie
    1. Research into children’s games, rhymes and songs, conducted with her husband Peter Opie, she argues that there is strong evidence of the continued existence of a separate children’s culture over many years
    2. Children can and do create their own independent culture separate from that of adults
3. Changing
  1. Jenks
    1. Due to the instability that postmodern society presents, parents become more fearful for their children’s security and more preoccupied with protecting them from perceived dangers e.g. child abuse
      1. Childhood continues to be a separate status and the legal and other restrictions placed on what children can and cannot do continues to define them as different from adults
Has the position of children improved?
1. March of progress view
  1. The position of children in western societies has been steadily improving and today is better than it has ever been
  2. Aries and Shorter- today’s children are more valued, better cared for, protected and educated, enjoy better health and have more rights than those of previous generations
  3. Children today are protected from harm and exploitation by laws against child abuse & child labour, the family has become child-centred, with parents investing a great deal in their children emotionally as well as financially
  4. Child-centred family
    1. Higher living standards and smaller family sizes means that parents can afford to provide for their children’s needs- by the time a child reaches their 21st birthday, they will have cost parents over £227,000
    2. Children are no longer to ‘be seen and not heard’ as they were in Victorian times- they are now the focal point of the family, consulted on many decisions as never before
    3. Parents invest a great deal in their children emotionally as well as financially
    4. Parents often have high aspirations for them to have a better life and greater opportunities, than they themselves have had
    5. The State invests in 8 education to encourage all children in the UK, to have equal opportunities to succeed
  5. De Mause- further back in history= lower level of childcare, more likely to be killed, abandoned, beaten, terrorised and sexually abused
2. Conflict view
  1. Children of different nationalities are likely to experience different childhoods and different life chances
  2. Gender differences between children- Hillman, boys are more likely to be allowed to cross or cycle on roads and go out after dark unaccompanied
  3. Ethnic differences- Brannen’s study of 15-16 year olds found that Asian parents were more likely than other parents to be strict towards their daughters
  4. Poor mothers are more likely to have low birth-weight babies that may delay physical and intellectual development- Woodroffe, children from manual backgrounds are more likely to be hyperactive and suffer long-standing illnesses than children of professionals (sweets are cheap)
  5. Inequalities between children and adults
    1. Neglect/ abuse (physical, sexual or emotional)
    2. Controls over children’s space– play in some areas and are forbidden to be in others such as some shops and hotels
    3. Controls over children’s time – adults in modern societies control children’s daily routines, including when they get up, eat, go to school, go to bed etc
    4. Controls over children’s bodies, including how they sit, walk and run, and what they wear, whether they can be picked-up, cuddled, or even smacked
3. Toxic childhood
  1. Palmer- rapid technological and cultural changes in the past 25 years have damaged children’s physical, emotional and intellectual development
    1. Junk food, computer games, and intensive marketing to children, to the long hours worked by parents and the growing emphasis on testing in education
  2. Margo and Dixon- UK youth are at/ near the top of international league tables for obesity, self-harm, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, early sexual experience and teenage pregnancies
  3. Not all children are affected equally by these negative trends. There are clusters of young people, namely those growing up on the poorer end of the social scale, who live desperate lives, while others do not
  4. It depends on which aspect of childhood we look at- some aspects suggest the continuation of childhood as a separate age-status, others suggest it may be disappearing/ changing
4. Age patriarchy
  1. Gittins- inequalities between adults and children
  2. Hockey and James propose children wish to escape from the childhood stage
    1. ‘Acting up’ – acting like adults by doing things that they do e.g. swearing
    2. ‘Acting down’ – behaving in ways expected of younger children as a way of resisting adult control e.g. reverting to baby talk
  3. Evaluation- adult control over children’s lives is justified because children cannot make rational decisions and so are unable to safeguard themselves
New sociology of childhood
1. There is a danger of seeing children as passive objects who have no part in creating their own childhood experiences as they are viewed from an adults’ point of view
2. Mayall- “adultist viewpoint” to describe the view of children as mere “socialisation projects” for adults to mould, shape, evolve and develop, with no interest in children as they are but only in what they will become in the future
  1. “New sociology of childhood”, which does not see children as simply adults in the making but as active agents who play a major part in creating their own childhood
3. Smart- the new approach aims to include the views and experience of children themselves while they are living through childhood
  1. Study of divorce found that children were actively involved in trying to make the situation better for everyone
4. Mason and Tipper- children actively create their own definition of who is family which may include people who are not biologically or legally related to them but who they regarded as close

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	Created by Holly Smith almost 2 years ago